Garage rock was a simple, raw form of rock and roll created by a number of American bands in the mid-1960s. Inspired by British Invasion bands like The Beatles, The Kinks, and The Rolling Stones, these mostly midwestern American groups played a variation on British Invasion rock. (While the American midwest produced many of the best-known examples of garage rock, there were many bands in that style coming from the Pacific coast and Australia.)

The term "garage rock" comes from the perception that many such performers were usually young and amateurish, and often rehersed in a garage. These bands' music was often much cruder than their inspirations but was full of passion and energy. Most of the bands used simple chord progressions, pounding drums, and catchy lyrics. In many ways, the garage bands were the first bands in what would eventually be known as punk rock.

Hundreds of garage bands popped up around America and a handful of them — Shadows of Knight, The Count 5, The Seeds, The Standells — had hits, but most were destined for obscurity. In fact, nearly all of the bands were forgotten by the early 1970s, though the famous Nuggets compilation brought them back somewhat closer to the spotlight.

Heavy metal band Metallica often characterized themselves as a garage rock band; as far as naming two of their albums Garage Days Re-Revisited and Garage Inc.

Revivals

In the 1980s, there was a garage rock revival that saw a number of bands earnestly trying to replicate the sound, style, and look of the '60s garage bands; this trend fed in into the alternative rock movement and future grunge music explosion, which was partially inspired by garage rock from Seattle like The Sonics.

This movement died down at the end of the decade but there was another revival in the 2000s with bands like The White Stripes, The Hives, The Alleys and The Strokes owing more than a little to the style. This later revival received much mainstream attention and became one of the dominant forms of rock and roll through the early part of the decade.

Original 1960s and '70s garage bands

• 13th Floor Elevators
• Davie Allan and The Arrows
• The Amboy Dukes
• The Atlantics
• The Balloon Farm
• The Barbarians
• The Beacon Street Union
• The Beau Brummels
• The Bees
• Blues Magoos
• Blues Project
• The Bohemian Vendetta
• The Bootmen
• The Bourbons
• The Brigade
• The Brigands
• The Brogues
• The Calico Wall
• Captain Beefheart and his Magic Band
• The Castaways
• The Charlatans
• Chocolate Watchband
• The Choir
• Clefs of Lavender Hill
• The Count 5
• Cosmic Rock Show
• Cotton Mouth
• The Crome Syrcus
• The Cryan Shames
• The Daily Flash
• The Del-Vetts
• The Dovers
• The E-Types
• Earth Opera
• The Elastik Band
• Electric Prunes
• Fenwyck
• The Five Americans
• The Floating Bridge
• Kim Fowley
• Freeborne
• Frijid Pink
• The Frost
• The Gants
• The Gestures
• The Golliwogs
• Gonn
• The Groupies
• Harbinger Complex
• The Hombres
• The Human Beinz
• The Human Expression
• The Humane Society
• Kenny and The Kasuals
• Kinks
• The Kingsmen
• The Knaves
• The Knickerbockers
• Larry and the Bluenotes
• The Leaves
• The Lemon Drops
• The Litter
• The Live Five
• The Lollipop Shoppe
• Love
• Lyme and Cybelle
• The Lyrics
• The Magic Mushrooms
• The Magicians
• Max Frost and the Troopers
• MC5
• The Merry-Go-Round
• Michael and the Messengers
• The Mind's Eye
• The Mojo Men
• The Monks
• Mouse and the Traps
• The Moving Sidewalks
• Mr. Lucky and the Gamblers
• The Music Explosion
• The Music Machine
• The Mystery Trend
• Nazz
• New Colony Six
• The New Tweedy Brothers
• The Nightcrawlers
• The Night Walkers
• The Nuggets
• The Outcasts
• The Outsiders
• The Other Half
• The Palace Guard
• Paul Revere and the Raiders
• Phluph
• The Premiers
• Pretty Things
• Psychedelic Stooges
• Question Mark and the Mysterians
• The Rare Breed
• The Rationals
• The Rats Two Line
• The Remaining Few
• The Remains
• Richard and the Young Lions
• The Rovin' Kind
• The Rumors
• S.J. and The Crossroads
• Saggitarius
• Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs
• Saturday's Children
• The Seeds
• Shadows of Knight
• Sir Douglas Quintet
• Sky Saxon
• The Sonics
• The Sparkles
• SRC
• The Squires
• The Standells
• Stereo Shoestring
• The Stooges
• The Strangeloves
• Strawberry Alarm Clock
• The Swingin' Medallions
• Syndicate Of Sound
• Teddy and The Pandas
• Teegarden
• The Third Bardo
• Third Power
• The Third Rail
• The Tidal Waves
• Thursday's Children
• The Troggs
• The Turtles
• The Ugly Ducklings
• Ultimate Spinach
• The Underdogs
• The Uniques
• Unrelated Segments
• The Vagrants
• Van Winkle
• Wailers
• We The People
• The Wilde Knights
• The William Penn V
• The Woolies
• The Yorkshires
• The Zakary Thaks

1980s, '90s, and 2000s garage revival bands

• The Alleys
• The Avatars
• The Bent Scepters
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
• Billy Childish
• The D4
• The Datsuns
• The Dirtbombs
• The Fondas
• The Fuzztones
• The Gories
• The Hives
• The Kills
• The Libertines
• Lyres
• Mando Diao
• The Oblivians
• The Pandoras
• The Strokes
• The Von Bondies
• The White Stripes
• The Woggles